Shell Asset Management Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Shell Asset Management Co. trimmed its position in Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sig Brokerage LP purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $893,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 145.2% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 385,029 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $71,883,000 after buying an additional 227,977 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,933 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $2,041,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of Darden Restaurants in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,073 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,187,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Darden Restaurants

In related news, CEO Ricardo Cardenas sold 20,518 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $4,271,642.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 58,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,249,066.84. This represents a 25.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura B. Williamson sold 2,289 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.26, for a total transaction of $474,418.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,206.56. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,613 shares of company stock worth $5,121,492. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $210.00 to $192.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Darden Restaurants from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $180.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.38.

Darden Restaurants Stock Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $211.42 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.87 and a 12-month high of $211.82. The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.74.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The restaurant operator reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. Darden Restaurants’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 EPS for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Darden Restaurants Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.